The battery beast you have been waiting for

The ASUS ZenFone Max Pro M1 (can someone please advise ASUS on how to make simpler names?) which was previously rumored is now official — and it is priced from just INR 11 000 (~RM644.30). ASUS’ latest mid-range smartphone was introduced in India as part of their partnership with Flipkart, but we can confirm that it will be made available in Malaysia.

Which is great news, as we could definitely do with a more competitive mid-range market. The Snapdragon 636-touting ZenFone Max Pro M1 is confirmed to be arriving in Malaysia middle of next month by our sources in ASUS Malaysia, although pricing is yet to be confirmed.

What makes this device special aside from the massive battery and powerful yet efficient chipset is the pure Android 8.1 Oreo it runs instead of ZenUI which is the default for ASUS’ smartphones. While marketed as a mid-range device, it comes with up to 6GB of RAM. The highest end variant also comes with a 16MP + 5MP rear camera and a 16MP front camera, instead of the 13MP + 5MP rear camera mated to an 8MP front camera setup found on the lower end configurations. Understandably, the dual camera setup is for depth detection to enable better portrait effects.